Visitor on an Important Day - Barry Enright f/x

Cubs will get a shot at getting above .500 and clinching a series win on Tuesday. The weather is warm, it's Starlin Castro bobblehead day, Andrew Cashner's first start in the bigs and the tickets are cheap. That means I'm going.

Cashner could be without Carlos Pena, who came out of Monday's win against Arizona with a thumb injury. The Diamondbacks are sending the right-handed Barry Enright to the mound, so this could also be a milestone day for Tyler Colvin. I don't think Colvin has started a game at first since high school. Pena is day-to-day, so hopefully he's fielding skills will be available.

Enright was a second round pick out of Pepperdine in 2007. He's never thrown an inning in AAA but made 17 starts for the Dbacks during his 2010 rookie campaign. He's a right-handed Joe Saunders, in a couple ways but not in sum. They're roughly the same build and possess roughly the same stuff. Enright's approach is different, and his control seems better. More on Saunders can be found in Monday's preview.

Movement plotted with speed-based colors:



Saunders actually throws a bit harder than Enright.

Here's movement plotted again, with pitch-types instead (not MLBAM's classifications, but my own):



Unlike Saunders, Enright throws his four-seam fastball more than the two-seam sinker and does not send opposite handed batters a ton of change-ups.

last	#	Vs	Change	Curve	Fastball	Sinker	Slider
Platoon Disadvantage
Saunders	8014	R	0.2544	0.1192	0.2957	0.3274	0.0032
Enright	723	L	0.0844	0.1743	0.3638	0.3195	0.0581
Platoon Advantage
Saunders	2631	L	0.0232	0.2166	0.2360	0.4208	0.1034
Enright	893	R	0.0594	0.0728	0.4121	0.2172	0.2385

Despite the stuff-wise similarity, Enright takes a more power-based approach when the platoon effect is in his favor. Enright is also a fly ball pitcher who, so far, looks like he'll walk fewer batters than Saunders. OK, so he's not a right-handed Joe Saunders after all, but the potential for mediocrity is there. Without the swing-and-miss stuff, Enright's control is his best friend.